British Airways fly to Rio several times a day, but as of Tuesday night the cheapest return flights – changing in Madrid on the return leg – already came in at just over £1,200 if you wanted to travel out just before the first match and come back after the final.

Are there any packages available?

On Tuesday night, England's official tour operator Thomson Sport began offering packages priced at £6,995 per person that guaranteed flights, 13 nights accommodation and tickets for England's three group stage matches, no matter where they are played. Other tour operators are likely to put unofficial packages together.

How much will it cost? How do I get around?

It won't be cheap. Those who travelled to England's friendly in the Maracanã earlier this year reported that even hostels were charging upwards of £200 a night. Fifa's ludicrous decision not to stage the groups in geographical clusters means that fans could face having to travel huge distances to follow their team around the country, even in the group stages.

There is no long-distance railway to speak of in Brazil and while long-distance coach travel is comfortable, it is unlikely to be practical given the short timeframes and long distances involved. So booking internal flights is likely to be a logistical and financial challenge. The distances are huge, from Arena Amazonia in Manaus in the north to the Estádio Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre in the south.

However, as in South Africa, prices are likely to come down for accommodation as the tournament draws closer and rooms fail to sell. Those prepared to take a chance are likely to save significant amounts.

Fifa recently revealed that a total of 6.15m requests for tickets were made during the first phase of ticket sales, more than 70% of those from Brazil. Around 1m of the total of 3.3m tickets were made available in the first phase. A total of 96,780 of those requests were from England, the sixth highest total. Following criticism in South Africa, Fifa has attempted to make more tickets available to local buyers and concessions at more realistic prices.

But for international buyers, prices range from $90 to $175 for the group stages, $110 to $220 for the round of 16, $165 to $330 for the quarter-finals, and $275 to $660 for the semi-finals. For the final, the cheapest tickets cost an eye-watering $440 while the most expensive are $990.

There are also venue specific tickets available, which guarantee a seat at all the group games and a round of 16 match at a particular venue, and team specific tickets that allow you to follow your team for a maximum of three, four, five, six or seven games.

Those tickets not allocated in the first phase will be made available on a first come, first served basis from 5 November. There will be a further sales process from 8 December following the World Cup draw, with successful applicants randomly selected under a lottery system.

There will then be a further two first come, first served sales periods next year. The Football Association will also receive an allocation to sell through its England fans membership scheme.

How many England fans will travel?

While some fans may have been targeting a dream trip to a Brazil World Cup for years, the Englandfans spokesman Mark Perryman believes that many more will give this tournament a miss. Expensive trips to South Africa in 2010 and Poland-Ukraine in 2012, combined with underwhelming England performances and the prospect of likely qualification for an expanded European Championship across the Channel in France in 2016 may dampen demand, he believes.

Around 10,000 England fans travelled to South Africa, with the number swollen further by expats, but Perryman believes the numbers will be down in Brazil. "It's the dream trip and those that are going will have been saving for years. But the groups are not going to be regionalised and you can't even begin to plan until December," he said. "The other factor is that Brazil is an expensive place to go, they are used to whacking up the prices for big events. I'd be surprised if the numbers that travel are as large as South Africa."

Where will England be based?

England were planning to stay in the Windsor Atlantica on Copacabana beach, following the Euro 2012 model of trying to give the players a feeling for the atmosphere of the tournament and encouraging them to be "good tourists" (itself a reaction to the austere, remote regime in South Africa). But when it emerged a huge fanzone was planned outside the hotel, the FA turned its attentions to the Royal Tulip hotel up the coast on São Conrado beach and hope to use the practice facilities at the nearby Urca Navy base.

Roy Hodgson will name his provisional 23-man squad for the tournament on 13 May before the team play a final friendly at Wembley, then head to Miami for an eight-day training camp. The final squad will be named while they are there on 2 June, before a final warm-up match against the USA in Miami. They must be in Rio by 7 June under Fifa rules.

Will I have to be a Club England member to buy England tickets?

No, you can buy them through the Fifa sales process. But Englandfans members will have access to a further allocation that will be made available through the FA.

Do I need a visa?

No, not if you have a British passport. But you need a return ticket and, potentially, proof of sufficient funds for your stay.

When will the tournament be played?

Brazil will kick off the tournament following the opening ceremony in São Paulo on 12 June. The group stages run until 26 June. The round of 16 games run from 28 June to 1 July, with the quarter-finals on 4-5 July. The semi-finals will be played on 8-9 July with the final at the rebuilt Maracanã on Sunday 13 July.

When is the draw?

The draw will take place on 6 December in Bahia, Brazil, but England will not be seeded. Fifa has decided to base the seedings solely on its ranking system as it stands on 17 October. With England currently 17th, they will not be seeded alongside Brazil and the seven highest ranked qualifiers.As such, they will face one of the best sides in the world, plus two others. Pots two, three and four will be split by region, keeping teams from the same confederation apart during the group phase. A maximum of two teams from Europe will be permitted in each of the eight groups.